Foundation garment



Nov. 24, 1942.

N. H. MOENCH FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed June 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 24, 1942. N. H. MOENCH FOUNDATION GARMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 21, 1941 Patented Nov. 24, 1942 UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUNDATION Norma HayMoench, Chicago, 111. Application June 21, 1941, Serial No. 393,173

4 Claims.

This invention relates to body molding garments and more particularly to foundation garments such as one piece corselettes.

An object of this invention is to provide a foundation garment that will mold and subsequently hold and maintain the figure in the contours desired.

A further objectis to provide means in such a garment for molding, lifting and holding the abdomen in its desired position.

Another object is to provide a structure affording a novel corelation between the supporting means for the bust and torso, the anchoring means, and the closure means for the garment.

An additional object is to provide a structure of efllciency and simplicity that may be readily and economically made, fitted, and used.

These and other more specific objects will more plainly appear from the detailed specification and drawings presented herein in exempliilcation and not in limitation of the present invention.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the appended drawings which represent diagrammatically in:

Fig. I a'perspective view of the front portion of the garment in use in an erect position.

Fig. 11 a like view of the rear portion of the garment.

Fig. III a perspective side view of the garment when in use in a sitting position.

Fig, IV a perspective side view of the garment being applied to the user in an erect position.

Fig. V a like front view.

Fig. VI a fragmentary perspective cross-sectional view of a lifting panel seam and ,stay taken on the line 6-6 in Fig. V and Fig. VII a diagrammatic plan view showing the relationship of the various coacting members of the garment.

The novel one piece corselette l as shown in Figs. I, II and VII comprises a front portion II, a back portion i2 and a brassiere portion l3 with its shoulder straps H. The front portion I I comprises two side. seams IS, a center seam I6 and intermediate seams II on each side of the center seam Hi, all slightly curved and longitudinally positioned as shown in Fig. VII. The center seam l6 and side seams l5, each terminate in divergent inverted Y-seams l3 between which elastic gussets I! are inserted.

Extending over the central portion 20 of the center seam I6 is a slidable closure -2l adapted to extend only approximately one-third of the length of the center seam between the top and bottom portions thereof. At the lower end :22

each intermediate seam II, a combined support 23 for the hose 24 and garment anchoring means is attached. Each of these intermediate seams extends upwardly to the longitudinal central portion 25 of each' bust member 26 of the brassiere portion l3 and is in alignment with the top point 21 of each bust portion 26 to which the front end of the shoulder strap I4 is attached.

The lateral margins joining the front portion II with the rear portion l2 of the garment III are provided with slideable closures 28 downwardl extending from. a point 23 below the arm-.

pit to a point 30 approximately in line with the points of the triangular gusset portions H.

The lower end 3| of the center seam closure 2| is positioned somewhat above the points of the two side gussets I3. Extending upwardly from a point 32 on the side seams l5 adjacent the apex of each of the side gussets l3 toward the lower end 3| of the center seam closure 2| are a pair of opposed oblique seams 33 meeting at the center seam I6 to form the apex of an angle 34 of approximately to 160 degrees. preferably approximately 10 to approximately 30 degrees from the horizontal. The seams 33 may also vary in inclination within thisrange with the angle of their inclination gradually increasing from the lowest seam 33 to the uppermost seam 33, and with the consequent concurrent decrease in the angle 34 which will be greatest at the lowest seam 33 and least at the uppermost seam 33 within the aforesaid range of approximately 120 to approximately degrees.

This series of upwardly inclined seams 33 extending upwardly from the side seams IE to the center seam I6 and crossing the intermediate seams ll forms a series of panels 35 each panel being approximately in the form of a parallelogram, th parallelogram sections 36 being positioned in preferably two upwardly extending rows on each side of each intermediate seam II. These parallelogram sections 36 are preferably formed of separate pieces of materials 31 cut so of 55 that the longitudinally woven threads 31a in the material 21 are held approximately parallel to the center seam I. These sections 2 are preferably overlapped as shown in Figs. I and Y1 and stitched to each other at all four sides and each lateral marginal seam ll of each parallelogram section 24 is provided with a separate stay member 22 inserted within the seams 38. These stay members 39 preferably do not cross the intermediate longitudinal seams II.

The back portion i2 of the garment ill comprises a straight central longitudinal seam 40, slightly curved marginal longitudinal seams 4| on each side of the center seam 40 and between each side seam 4| and the central seam 40 is-a pair of straight spaced intermediate longitudinal seams 42. At the lower part of the portion l2 and between each pair of said intermediate seams 42 is inserted .an elasticgusset member 42 preferably substantially rectangular in shape.

Extending transversely across the back portion of the garment is a waistline seam 45 terminating at the outer seam of each pair of intermediate seams 42.

The inner seam of each pair of said intermediate seams 42 is preferably provided with a longitudinal stay member 44 extending from the waistline seam 43 to the bottom of the back portion 12. To the upper end of each intermediate seam 42 is attached the inverted Y-shaped shoulder straps 5. which unite with the front shoulder straps l4 previously described.

Attached at a point 48 adjacent the inner upper corner of said rectangular gusset 42 and positioned on each of the inner seams of said pair of intermediate seams 42 are combined garter and anchorage supports 48 which are provided with stocking attaching means 49 extending to the lower margin of the garment III.

On each of the outer seams of said intermediate seams 42, like garter members are positioned at points 41 somewhat below the attaching points 48 of the first named garter members. This arrangement provides two pairs of combined garter supports 48 and garment anchors attached to the rear of the garment "I, each pair of garter supports being attached to the garment on a line upwardly extending toward the center seam of the garment and forming anangle of approximately 70 degrees therewith, the fasteners 49 extending in horizontal alignment below the garment III. This angular attachment to the rear garter supports 41 aids in anchoring the rear portion of the garment and augments the lifting action of the upwardly inclined panels Si in the rear of the garment.

From Fig. VII it will be seen that the longitudinal seams 40 and 42 are preferably all straight seams not curved inwardly at the waist. It will also be seen that the top line 52 of the rear portion of the garment extends to a line approximately at or slightly above the lateral central line 53 of the bust portions 26. This combination of a straight back and a high back line provides a lifting and leverage action which holds the back down in a manner that augments the lifting action of the front portion of the garment on the abdominal regiins. This makes it impossible for the garment to move up On the body and get out of place while in use after the garment has been closed. The stretching of the garment is minimized by reducing the length and area of the elastic gusset portions i9 and 42 which preferably extend only to a point below the widest point of the hipline. The center seam ii in the front portion of the garment is preferably slightly curved so that when the garment is closed the compressive action of the closure members will cause the center seam to assume an approximately straight line position when in use, thus aiding in maintaining the fit and lifting action of the front portion of the garment.

In making and fitting the novel garment herein described, the front portion II and the rear portion l2 as shown in Fig. VII may be substantially standardized and the side portions S may be made in varying widths and lengths to provide the desired range of sizes. These side portions may thus be properly cut and fitted to the wearer and subsequently attached to join the front and rear portions during the fitting of the garment. It is preferred to make the lifting panels as shown in Fig. VI, wherein the lower section 36 is folded as at 36b and positioned. to overlap the upper'panel 38a as at 360. The upper and lower panels may then be stitched together as at 36d forming a pocket 38 adapted to receive the stay 39. The material forming these panels is cut so that when in use thelongitudinally extending threads therein are positioned in an approximately vertical position and so that the under side of the seams 38 willinclude with said threads an angle ranging from approximately 60 degrees to approximately degrees.

The bust supporting portions are preferably formed of cup-shaped inwardly projecting annular members 26 the lower portion of which supports the under side of the bust and the upper portion holds the busts firmly in position. The intermediate scam I! and the straps l4 are preferably attached to the annular member in alignment with each other and in alignment with the central longitudinal portion of the busts to aid in maintaining uniform lines of force for the lifting action of the front portion of the garment,

In operation, the side and center closures are first opened and the garment then put on the wearer. Next, the lower part of the garment is anchored in place by attaching the front and rear garter members to the hose. The front and rear portions of the body may be separately pushed down and molded and held in place by the hand as shown in Figs. IV and V. While these portions of the body are being held in place by one hand, each of the side closures may be separately closed, and subsequently the front portions of the abdomen are likewise further molded and held in place by the hand until the center closure is partially closed and after the hand is removed the center closure may then be completely closed. In this manner the maintaining of the figure in its molded osition is insured by the novel operating features of the garment herein described.

The novel coaction of the features herein described produces an entirely new and highly advantageous structure for a foundation garment. The elastic members 43 and i9 are restricted in area and so positioned that they provide only the amount of flexibility required for walking or sitting and at the same time their location prevents the garment from stretching at the widest point of the hip line. This keeps the garment from creeping up in use and maintains its molding action even after long use. This action is further augmented by the angular positioning of the attaching means for the rear garters in alignment with the. paired seams 42, the straps I4 and the front seams IT.

The high back line and the rectangular straight back structure further augment the novel action asoaooo of this garment herein described. This eflect is further increased and maintained by the curvature of the closures II and 28, by the panel structure 3i and 30, and by the upwardly decreasing angles ll. The anchoring means at 49 and 13, in alignment with the seams l1 and with the vertical center line of the annular bust supports 26 also augment the molding and lifting action of the front portions of the figure.

The side fitting portions S permit the completed separate portions H, II and It, to be properly united and subsequently stitched at the seams 4| after the portions S have been cut and fitted on the wearer. This is one of the important features of this invention that ensures the proper initial molding action of the one piece garment ll.

The present invention contemplates all modifications and embodiments thereof within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A foundation garment comprising in combination, a front body molding member provided with a central longitudinal opening, a rear body holding member, means for anchoring said garment in position on the body of the wearer, side closure means adapted to unite said members and thereby compressively mold the-body, fastening means adapted to slidably and upwardly close said central opening and said side closure means respectively whereby the flesh may be liftably molded, and coacting flesh retaining means adapted to maintain the thus molded flesh in its lifted position, said retaining means including a plurality of interconnected rows of a plurality of substantially unstretchable interconnected relatively small lifting panels, said rows being longitudinally disposed in said front member, said panels beingupwardly inclined toward said central opening on each side of said opening.-

2. The combination of claim 1 that includes front and rear stretchable inserts in the lower margin of said garment, said inserts extending upwardly when in use only to a point below the greatest lateral diameter taken at the hip line of the wearer.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the inclination of the lower of said lifting panels are less than the inclination of the upper of said lifting panels with respect to the horizontal. I 4. A foundation garment comprising in comination a front body molding member provided with a central longitudinal opening, a rear body member, means for anchoring said garment in position on the body of the wearer, side closure means adapted to unite said front and rear members, slidable fastening means adapted to upwardly close said central opening and said side closure means respectively, and elastic inserts in the lower margin of said garment adapted to extend only below the hip line of the wearer, said front member comprising a plurality of substantially unstretchable, overlapping, interconnected, parallelogram-like panels positioned to be upwardly inclined towards said opening, the upper portion of said opening being arranged to slightly diverge away from the line of the lower portion of said opening to an extent that will permit said center opening to be approximately straight in its closed position in use, said rear member being formed of straight unstretchable panels, the top margin of said rear member extending along a line approximately coextensive with the lateral center line of the bust of the wearer.

NORMA HAY MOENCH. 

